I want to find out if I can claim compensation for a hospital patient with pressure sores and how much my case is likely to be worth. Can you tell me the approximate range of compensation for pressure sores in hospital?
There is no fixed amount of compensation for a hospital patient with pressure sores that can be claimed, as the level of damages depends on the severity of the injuries, their location and how they affect the victim. Consideration must also be given to the length of time the sores take to heal and whether they cause any scarring. Consequently, the calculation of compensation for a hospital patient with pressure sores can only take place after a case has been investigated.
In order to find out how much compensation for pressure sores you will be entitled to claim, you should speak with a personal injury solicitor with experience of pursuing medical negligence claims. It is unlikely that a solicitor will be able to confirm how much compensation for pressure sores can be claimed on the first meeting – or on the initial telephone call – as the first task which must be undertaken is to confirm eligibility to make a claim for pressure sores in a hospital.
After a solicitor listens to your account of the circumstances due to which your pressure sores developed, and the severity and location of your injuries, it should be possible for you to find out if you will be entitled to make a pressure sore compensation claim, pending an full investigation of your case. The reason an investigation needs to be conducted is because pressure sores do not always develop as a result of clinical neglect.
When a patient develops pressure sores in hospital, it strongly suggests that adequate nursing care has not been provided and pressure sores are always an indication that there has been clinical neglect. When a patient is neglected to the point of sustaining a physical injury it is considered to be a serious failure in a duty of care and constitutes medical negligence; both of which are prerequisites to a pressure sore compensation claim.
However, since pressure sores can develop over a relatively short period of time even when a reasonable level of nursing care is provided to a patient, the fact that these injuries have developed does not necessarily mean that the hospital staff have been negligent. For this reason it is necessary to prove ‘on the balance of probabilities’ that the nursing care provided was inadequate, that the injuries could have been avoided under the circumstances, and action should have been taken by the nurses and doctors to prevent you from coming to harm.
After conducting an investigation into how you were allowed to develop pressure sores in hospital, and a solicitor has confirmed – with the assistance of a medical expert – that the hospital staff were negligent and failed in a duty of care, it will then be possible for the value of your claim for pressure sores in a hospital to be determined. You will be advised of the likely level of compensation that can be recovered from the HSE, and you will find out if you have claims for pressure sores in hospital which will be worth your while pursuing.